Novm Is A KVM-Based Linux Hypervisor Written In Go

The latest interesting open-source project written in Google's Go programming language is called Novm. Novm is a legacy-free, type-2 hypervisor.

Novm is a open-source hypervisor written in Go and utilizes the Linux-based Kernel Virtual Machine (KVM) for running guest interfaces. Novm is different from conventional hypervisors and in being a new project looks to do away with any legacy support.

In terms of what sets Novm apart from other Linux hypervisors, the project's self-description explains, "novm is unique because it exposes a filesystem-device as a primary mechanism for running guests. This allows you to easily manage independent software and data bundles independently and combine them into a single virtual machine instance...This eliminates the pain of managing virtual disk images and allows much greater flexibility to how software is bundled and deployed. A virtual machine is no longer a heavyweight instance, but rather a hardware-enforced container around a collection of files and services defined on-the-fly."

Over using Linux Containers, Novm can be used with any compatible kernel, there is real hardware-enforced isolation, and there's support for mixing and matching technologies. On the downside though, containers offer better performance. Over traditional Linux virtualization solutions, Novm lacks the legacy hardware support and arbitrary guest OS support.

Those interested in more information on Novm can visit the Google GitHub page. While Novm is hosted under the open-source Google umbrella, at this time Novm is not an official Google product.